knowledge of the self in the upanishads

8/18/2019 Knowledge of the Self in the Upanishads

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Knowledge of the Self in the Upanishads – How is it attained, and what does it mean?

Max Cooper, University of Ottawa. Oct. 6, 2010

The Upanishads often characterize the question regarding knowledge of the self ( atman )

as one that even the most learned teachers find difficult to answer. We find, in the Katha

Upanishad , Yama to be erturbed when !aciketas asks after the soul"s destin# after death$

%&c'hoose a different boon, !aciketas. o not, do not insist$ release me from this ( *+ ).

-ikewise, aka#an#a of the Maitri Upanishad res onds to the king"s request for a teaching on

the self that %&t'his boon was of old difficult to achieve$ do not ask the question, /iksvaka 0 he

im lores him to %&c'hoose other desires ( 1).

es ite these in2unctions from a sage and the lord of death, our desire here is indeed to

ose the question$ how does one, according to these te3ts, arrive at a knowledge of the self4

53amination of the conte3ts of the assages above suggests a connection to ascetic disci line.

6ing 7rhadratha had %embark&ed' on the highest asceticism , wherein he stood with arms raised

for %a thousand da#s 0 he had %attained dis assion ( 1). -ikewise, !aciketas, in demanding his

third boon, steadfastl# refuses the worldl# desires Yama tries to offer him in its lace$

%5 hemeral things, 5nder8... / human being cannot be satisfied b# wealth (*+9). The

Brhadaranya a Upanishad describes the self as being sought %through asceticism, through

fasting ... esiring it as their world, renouncers wander. 6nowing it, the ancients did not desire

offs ring (+ ). This lack of desire for offs ring 2ars strongl# against traditional :edic societ#"s

em hasis on the im ortance of sons (see, e.g., ;oebuck xxi). The Maitri uts the oint even more

strongl#$ %


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certainl# not a sufficient condition for attaining knowledge of the self, and even that it is ver#

likel# not a necessar# condition.

/nother im ortant factor the Upanishads address regarding self?realization is the

influence of a teacher. The title Upanishad is derived from %to sit down close to 0 this

traditionall# has been seen as referring to %a session of teaching, with the student sitting close to

the teacher (;oebuck xxxvii n.1), and indeed, both of our two o ening encounters above are

dialogues between a teacher and student. Yama tells !aciketas that %&t'here is no wa# to &this

knowledge' without another"s teaching (*+@). The reliance on a teacher is ever? resent, from

7rhadratha"s waiting one?thousand da#s for aka#an#a ( 1), to Aaitre#i"s desire for her

husband to teach her what he knows ( B), to ). The invoking of the conce t of dharma and the

ashramas , or stages of life, also s eak to an adherence to :edic orthodo3#$ 7uddhism and

Eainism had re2ected the notions of individual dharma as well as the four ashramas . The Maitri

te3t in articular takes aim at 7uddhism, criticizing the %2uggleries of the non?self doctrine

( @90 cf. ;oebuck B@C n. 1>), and declaring that %a 7rahmana should not stud# what is not

:edic ( @+).


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We must also qualif# our earlier remarks on asceticism$ as ;oebuck has ointed out,

some of the Upanishads " greatest figures attained knowledge of the self while living as

householders$ Eanaka and /2atasatru were ver# wealth# ro#al sages0 Ya2navalk#a"s teachings

come while he is living with his two wives, and winning wealth in cattle sufficient to %have made

him a millionaire in modern terms ( xxiv!. The Maitri Upanishad even seems to criticize certain

ascetic ractices$ those who %falsel# wear saffron robes and earrings, or carr# skulls and certain

%wearers of matted locks are associated with the %net of delusion ( @ ) (this however seems

not to be a criticism of ascetic ractice per se , but s ecificall# of those who ractice this in a wa#

%destructive of the :edas (see @9)).

Finall#, we should note that knowledge of the self is said not to be reachable through

discursive methods. Yama tells his disci le that it %cannot be gras ed b# reasoning 0 %subtler

than the subtle, it is %not to be reasoned out (*+@). Ya2navalk#a rescribes that one %should not

think on man# words, G For that is mere weariness of s eech (+ ). The Maitri Upanishad

contrasts knowledge of the self with normal learning of the mind$ this kind of knowledge occurs

onl# when %&o'ne reaches a state without mind ( 9C)0 ever#thing besides this is merel#

%multi lication of books ( 9C).

Hf what then does this highl# esoteric knowledge of the self consist4 The Brhadaranya a

Upanishad relates a sort of creation m#th wherein onl# the rimordial atman e3ists in the

beginning0 after creating from itself all things, it is still cognizant that %=< am creation, for <

created all this" 0 %5ven toda#, we are told, %whoever knows =< am "rahman " becomes all this

(1>?*1). Ya2navalk#a makes clear to his questioners, who ask him to reveal %the "rahman that is

manifest, not hidden, that is the self within ever#thing , that %&i't is yo#r self that is within

ever#thing (B9 ff.). This self %goes be#ond hunger and thirst, grief, delusion, old age and death


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(B9). /t this oint we might ob2ect what is said to be o#r self here does not corres ond with our

ordinar# conce tion of our self0 we certainl# e3 erience hunger, thirst, grief, and the like. We

might then consult Ya2navalk#a"s later words$ %'ou cannot see the seer of seeing0 #ou cannot

hear the hearer of hearing0 #ou cannot think of the thinker of thinking0 #ou cannot know the

knower of knowing. This is #our self that is within ever#thing (B9). This self, then, is

unavailable to the mind and senses because it is, in a sense, the sub2ect who possesses the sensual

and cognitive ca acities. The Kena Upanishad likewise declares, %What one does not think of b#

the mind G 7# which, the# sa#, the mind is thought of G 6now that as "rahman (*9 ).

This hel s us to understand what recisel# these te3ts mean b# self?realization$ it does

not relate merel# to one"s ersonalit#, likes, dislikes, and so on (this is the same insight which

leads the dissatisfied >?*CC)) I rather, this is a much

larger and more significant self$ %Whoever has found and woken u the self G G Je is the =/ll?

Kreator", for he is the maker of ever#thing$ G Jis is the world I indeed, he is the world (+B). Hne

who has found the self becomes the entire wor$d . The self and "rahman are not onl# the

sub2ective witnesses to our e3 eriences, nor the smartl# dressed bod#0 the# are in fact both of

these things and more.


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success or even intellectual satisfaction but rather at %enabling the questioner to become free of

worldl# suffering and limitations ( xv!. This is evident from


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The final verse of the Katha Upanishad affirms that not onl# has !aciketas attained an

e3alted state, but that %so will an# other who knows this &knowledge' in relation to the self

(*>*)0 thus the com iler of this te3t is reserving the formula for the good of all future seekers.

The closing invocation asks not merel# for individual realization, but rather that$ % )o*ether may

it protect #s two + )o*ether may it profit #s two + )o*ether may we do a hero%s wor (*>*). The

two in this stor# are Yama and !aciketas, but could equall# be taken to be an# teacher and

student, or an# air of eo le. *). There ma# be seen to be a causal relationshi between these$ if one learns

intelligentl#, realizing the identit# of one"s self with the eternal "rahman , and b# im licationwith all other selves, there is no reason to harbour hatred towards an# other being. ) I things such as

hate and strife also arise onl# from a second. !ow, as the same te3t also describes, the rimordial

atman %had no leasure either because %when alone one has no leasure 0 this lack necessitated

his creation of a com anion (1>?*C). This e3 lains erha s wh# the Katha invocation continues

to em lo# %us two . Jowever, as long as we can %learn intelligentl# through the methods

outlined above, we ma# attain the knowledge that we are in fact one0 from this we ma# ho e to

%never hate one another , and erha s to e3 erience, in the words of the common Upanishadic

refrain that ends this invocation, % eace, peace, peace (*>*) I both within ourselves and the

world.

( who$ehearted$y we$come a$$ comments, /#estions, or feed"ac yo# may have. $ease write to me

thro#*h cademia.ed# or at maxwe$$cooper2 *mai$.com .

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Works Kited)he Upanisads . Trans. :alerie ;oebuck. -ondon$ Denguin 7ooks, *CC . Drint.;oebuck, :alerie.


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simply as the Vedic system56ote "7 were the three originalVedas which formed its *rst tier.

Taittiriya0panishad

o (d) The!itreya0panishad

o (e) The8aush9ta i0panishad

o (f) :therearly0panishads

#. The &entral&oncepts of the0panishads

;. 0panishads and

%uddhism. &onclusion

These original Vedas postulated a whole pantheonof gods who were worshiped and oblations o?ered tothem. The worship of these gods became associatedwith the practice of animal sacri*ce to propitiate them.

The meat of the slaughtered animals together with the @uice of the +oma plant (unidenti*ed but thought to be


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alcoholic) along with other oblations were o?ered to thegods. !s the system developed the sacri*ce becamehighly organiAed with a special class of %rahmin priestsdevoted to the conduct of the ritual. The religious textsassociated with these sacri*cial rituals came to be

nown as the %r-hmanas which were simply appendedto the various Vedas. These formed the second tier ofIndian religious texts.

It was during this time that social divisionsembodied in the varna (caste) theory became an

integral part of the social system. !ccording to thissociety was divided into four castes 56ote 7, %r-hmana(hereditary priests) considered the highest, 8Batriya( ings and warriors), Vaisyas (artisans, farmers and theli e) and +Cdras (slaves, servants, menial wor ers, andDoutcastsE who were usually the non !ryan inhabitants).

The +Cdras occupied the lowest position in society,while the other three were considered the higher

castes. !t the same the life a person of the highercastes was divided into four stages (-Bramas)consisting of (") the %rahmac-rya devoted to studyunder a Vedic teacher, ( ) the householder (24ihasta)devoted to family and professional life, (/) theVanaprastha phase when the person left the communallife and retired to the forest, and *nally (3) the +any-saphase which the person became a wandering ascetic.

The 0panishads, which constituted the third tier ofthe Vedic system, were composed by sages who hadretired to the forest either as Vanaprastha or +any-sin.'ven though their names are given in the texts notmuch more is nown about them 56ote /7. The


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0panishads are appended to the traditional Vedas and%rahmanas as a third section called the -ranya as (orforest treatises). In course of time they came to beregarded are di?erent genre of writing. They were the*rst texts to pose philosophical questions in their ownright. Fhile the 0panishads did not re@ect either theVedas or the %r-hmanas and in fact incorporated theancient pantheon into their thin ing they attempted toexplain the Vedic %r-hmanic practices, including thesacri*ce, in philosophical or metaphorical terms. It isgenerally claimed that most of later philosophicalspeculation in India were derived from the 0panishadictradition, and thus ultimately from the Vedas. Fith theearly classical 0panishads we may consider the Vedictradition to have come to its culmination. Gor thisreason the 0panishads are sometimes referred to as theVed-nta (end of Veda).

Host 0panishadic speculation too several routes.

:ne was to deny the Vedic system altogether,especially its supernatural aspects including itspantheon of gods and the doctrine of post mortemsurvival which the 0panishadic seers had developedfrom the rudimentary views on the sub@ect contained inthe early Vedic hymns. They are generally re?ered to inIndian philosophy as the &-rv- as or o -yati as. 56ote37

Jirectly opposite to the materialists were thosewho too 0panishadic speculation in the direction of

onotheism. The 0panishadic seers were, of course,theists as they accepted most of the Vedic pantheon.'ven in the earliest 0panishads the central concepts


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li e %rahman and Ktman were interpreted in theisticterms. Lowever many of the later verse 0panishadswere unabashedly theistic. This line of thin ingculminated in the Theism of the %hagavat 2it-, andfrom there it passed into medieval, and modernLinduism.

In between these two developments leading tomaterialism on the one hand and monotheism on theother several other schools emerged associated withvarious sramana thin ers. :f these two have been of

continuous historical importance in India. These werethe teaching of ah-vira who founded the Main religion,and the %uddha whose teaching came to be nown asthe %uddha Jhamma. Fhile the Mains have been acontinuous force in India they have been a minoritymovement and have not been able to brea out ofIndia. %uddhism however Nourished in India for manycenturies after !so a adopted it as his religion. Juring

this period it was IndiaEs principal religion. Itsrelationship to the doctrines of the 0panishads will beexplored in this essay. The decline of %uddhism camefrom two sources O the resurgence of Linduism, and thepersecution from the uslims who conquered most of6orthern India. %ut the decline of %uddhism in Indiatoo place at a time that it spread to other parts of !sia,and thus it has survived in various schools.

:ther than Mainism and %uddhism there are severalother developments which fall between the extremes of materialism and monotheism. These include theVaisheshi a, the 6y-ya and the +-P ya systems. The*rst two of these are closely related to each other. They


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emphasiAed the investigation of the material world byusing the rules of logic. +alvation comes from a logicalunderstanding of the conditions of the material world.

Their failing was that they did not employ the methodsof experimentation which was the reason for thedominance of Festern +cience since the eighteenthcentury. The metaphysical approach which wascharacteristic of these systems is best exempli*ed inthe +-P ya. It developed a system of QmetphysicaldualismR which recogniAes two dominant forces 6ature( prakṛti ) and Herson ( Puruṣa ) without giving a place to asupreme deity. These developments will not be exploredin this essay.

In the next section we shall consider brieNy theVedic and %r-hman bac ground, and in the succeedingsections explore various aspects of the 0panishads.

%. The Vedas and the Br&h anas

+ince the 0panishad were the continuation of theVedas and the %rahmanas something need be saidabout them. !t its origin this religion was essentially adei*cation of the forces of nature and provided some

ind of rationaliAation of the observed world. This istrue of many other primitive religions as well. %ut intime Vedas grew into an elaborate system of religion,going through several stages of development.

There were originally three Vedas the Sg, agur and+-ma Vedas 56ote #7. It is to them that reference ismade in the %uddhist and Main texts. They containedchants and hymns recited by the priests who presidedover various stages in the Vedic sacri*ces. The Sg


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hymns were recited by the chief priest ( hotṛ ) and the agur by the priests in charge of the details of thesacri*ce ( advatyu ) The +-ma contained chants sungduring the +oma sacri*ce by the initiating priest(udgātr ). :f these the Sg was the most important,many of the hymns in the other two Vedas being culledfrom the Sg.

The Vedas introduced a whole pantheon of deities. The principal ones (with the roles assigned to them)were1 Hra@-pati (&reator, especially in the Sg), %rahm-

(the &hief), itra and Varu a ( ingship, guardian of 4ta,Indra (&ontroller), the twin !Uvins (divine physicians),!gni (*re), %4haspati (divine priest), Jh-tar(D'stablisherE), the aruts (storm, etc.), Har@anya (rain),Sbhu (artisans), =udra (nature), +avitar and +Crya(+un), TvaB ar (&arpenter W), V-yu (wind), V4tra(adversary of Indra), ama (ruler of the deceased), ami(twin sister of ama) etc. It is said that // gods (some of

them actually groups of gods) have been counted in theVedas 56ote ;7. !s the functions assigned to them showthat they not only covered the forces of nature but arealso persons capable of intervening in the a?airs ofhumans.

The centre of the Vedic religion was the sacri*ce. The grandest of them was the Lorse +acri*ce(aṣvamedha ) which could be a?orded only by ings andthe wealthy. 56ote


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goat. In the early period the gods were supposed tocome in chariots to parta e of the o?erings. ater theywere o?ered through the instrumentality of the *re(agnihotra ).

It is not necessary to consider the hymns even inthe most important of the Vedas, the Sg. Fhether theyhave literary merit is not our concern, but they certainlycontribute little to physical or metaphysical nowledge.

The section of the Sg that is quoted the most is thecosmological theory contained in &hapter "$ of the Sg,

particularly the creation stanAa (" X) also nown as the6-sadiya Lymn. This story of creation persisted throughthe %r-hmanas and into the 0panishads. %ecause of itspervasive inNuence it deserves to be quoted here1

". TL'6 was not non existent nor existent1 there was no realm of air, no s y beyond it.Fhat covered in, and whereW and what gave shelterW Fas water there, unfathomed depth of waterW

.Jeath was not then, nor was there aught immortal1 no sign was there, the dayYs andnightYs divider.

That :ne Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature1 apart from it was nothing whatsoever.

/.Jar ness there was1 at *rst concealed in dar ness this !ll was indiscriminated chaos.!ll that existed then was void and form less1 by the great power of Farmth was born that 0nit.3.Thereafter rose Jesire in the beginning, Jesire, the primal seed and germ of +pirit.+ages who searched with their heartYs thought discovered the existentYs inship in the non existent.#.Transversely was their severing line extended1 what was above it then, and what below itW

There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder;.Fho verily nows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes thiscreationW

The 2ods are later than this worldYs production. Fho nows then whence it *rst came into beingW


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said to be later than creation. %ut despite thisscepticism it is clearly implied that a &reator as theprimeval cause of creation (QThat :ne ThingR). %ut itscause is not explained because no one nows Qwhenceit came into beingR. This continued to be the theory ofcreation underlying the 0panishads, even thoughvarious details are changed or added in di?erent0panishads. The next verse ("$."/$) extols the eZcacyof sacri*ce.

The %r-hma as, of which there are several

compilations, were mainly concerned with the Vedicritual of the sacri*ce. ! student of these texts hasdescribed their content as follows1

QThe practically all powerfulsacri*cial (śrauta) rites are the one and only themefrom which all discussions start and on whicheverything including the secondary themes hinges.

The very aim of the compilers is not to describe,but to explain the origin, meaning, and raisond’etre of the ritual acts to be performed and toprove their validity and the signi*cance andsuitability of the mantras and chants used as wellas the mutual relations of the acts and theirconnections with the phenomenal reality.R Man2onda, Vedic Literature (Sahitās and Brāhma as)("X


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need to consider them further in this essay.

'. The Upanishads( General !onsiderations

This essay is mainly concerned with the0panishads which form the *nal tier of the Vedicsystem. They were composed by forest dwellers theyhad little opportunity to perform the elaboratesacri*ces. +o the %r-hma as were of little use to them.%ut it is signi*cant that they did not repudiate the Vedicsacri*ces completely[ their position was that it was theduty of the householders to attend to this ritualobligations. 56ote >7

In particular we shall consider the 0panishads fromtwo perspectives the %uddhist and the rationalistmaterialist. In doing so we shall consider primarilythose 0panishads which scholars believe werecomposed before the time of the %uddha. There arewell over hundred 0panishads in existence but only adoAen or less of these are considered as early. Theseare the 0panishads commented on by the edievalLindu commentator +an ara 56ote X7 who Nourished inthe eighth century &'. They are also the ones that wereconsidered as the Qprincipal 0panishadsR by earlyFestern commentators li e Haul Jeussen. 56ote "$7.

The earliest of the extant 0panishads are the%4ihad-ra ya a and the &h-ndogya 0panishads all in

prose. 6ot only are they the earliest but also thelongest accounting for over three quarters of theprincipal 0panishads. They are considered as beingcomposed about the sixth century %&'. Three otherprose 0panishads are also considered pre %uddhist.

These are the Taittiriya, !itreya and 8ausita i


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0panishads. The other QprincipalR 0panishads were the8ena, the 8a ha, the IU-, the u \a a, the HraUna, the

- \C ya, and the ]vet-Uvatara. To these the aitri0panishad is sometimes added although it is clearlypost %uddhist. !s stated this essay will be con*ned tothe *ve pre %uddhist 0panishads and only fewreferences will be made to the other principal0panishads.

The principal doctrines of the 0panishads havebeen summed up by an Indian writer who is

fundamentally sympathetic to these doctrines. Le liststhem as follows1

QThe fundamental doctrines of the 0panishadsmay be summed up as follows1 the +elf in man is%rahman[ nothing but %rahman exists, becauseeverything exists in %rahman, and %rahman istherefore the one ultimate reality [ the world isreal [ it cannot be unreal, because it emanatedfrom %rahman, the True of the true [ that the ob@ectof the 0panishads is to impart the right nowledge,by means of which Ktman would be found identicalwith %rahman[ lastly, %rahman is full of bliss,feelings not being contraband for %rahman. Thereader will now be able to *nd for himself that there is not the s!ightest resem"!ance"et#een Buddhism and the doctrines o$ the %tmanPhi!osophy R (+ures &handra &ha ravarti, &hePhi!osophy o$ the 'panishads 6ag Hublishers, n.d.,p. ";$)


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+ome students of the 0panishads may disagreewith &ha ravartiEs summary, but there is substantialagreement that the main propositions stated in theabove summary are in fact contained in the principal0panishads. If in &ha ravartiEs fashion the principalconclusions of the present essay are summariAed theycould be stated as follows1

QThe fundamental concepts of %rahman andKtman are pure metaphysical inventions and do notcorrespond to anything in reality. %rahman though

presented as an abstract Dground of beingE or theDultimate realityE is nothing but the personi*cationof %rahm-, the chief god in the Vedic pantheon also

nown under other names. i e the other gods of the Vedic pantheon %rahm- does not exist inreality. To state that Qeverything exist in %rahmanRis a meaningless statement, as there is noevidence that %rahman itself exists. The +elf in

man is a mythical component corresponding to the+oul in some other religions. It does not correspondto %rahman which is the representation of amythical god posited to exist in a plane di?erent tothat of humans. The world is certainly real, but it isnot an emanation from %rahman or the handiworof some creator. &here is no resem"!ance "et#eenBuddhism and the %tman phi!osophy .R

It will be seen that except for the last sentence thethesis of the present essay is almost the opposite of thefundamental doctrines which &ha ravarti has found in


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the 0panishads.

This does not mean that the 0panishads did notintroduce concepts that have been new to Indianthin ing and that these concepts had some inNuence onsubsequent thin ing. In many respects it was animprovement over the views advanced in the earlyVedas li e the Sgveda. 0nder the %rahmanical systemthe worship of gods en@oined in the early Vedas haddegenerated into a barbaric cult of animal sacri*ce andindulgence in food and drin . The 0panishads curbed

these tendencies and put the emphasis on the searchfor nowledge even though the nowledge that itclaimed to have discovered is no nowledge at all interms of modern rational and scienti*c ways ofdiscovering truth. It also developed new theories,notably the doctrine of 8arma and +as-ra whichwhether they were right or wrong did pave the way fora more humane ethical system. Fith sacri*ce

downplayed the 0panishads introduced meditation as aspiritual exercise. Versions of these 0panishadicinnovations have passed on to most Indian modes ofthought, including to some extent the Main and the%uddhist.

). Brie* "utline o* the $arliest Upanishads

%efore considering the principal doctrines of the

0panishads it would be useful to consider how they arepresented in the individual 0panishads. The longer0panishads are divided into chapters and sections, e.gin the %rihad-ra ya a they are called !dy-yas and%r-hma as, in the &h-ndyogya they are calledHrap- ha as and 8ha \as, etc. %ut there is very little


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systematic organiAation of content, and the samedoctrine is presented in various way in the di?erent0panishads. It is not the intention below to summariAethe various 0panishads, but only mention the principaldoctrines contained in them which are necessary todistill the essence of 0panishadic thin ing.

+a, The B ihad&ra yayaka Upanishad

The %4ihad-ra ya a is the earliest and the longestof the 0panishads. It consists of six chapters (ady-ya).It starts by an attempt to explain the horse sacri*ce(aUvamedha) in symbolic terms (e.g. dawn is the head,sun is the eye, etc.) There is no condemnation of thissacri*ce of an innocent animal merely to please (andfeed) the gods. It shows the ambivalence of the0panishads towards the sacri*ce which was the centrepiece of the Vedas and the %r-hmanas, not directlyapproving of it, not condemning it. In Sg Veda ("$." X"/$) creation is seen as the sacri*ce of the primevalman. 6ow the sacri*ce of the horse is equated to theact of creation. Grom the various parts of the horsecome things as varied as water, earth, *re, The organ of speech, and other human faculties. :ther forms of thecreation myth are also recounted in this chapter.

In the second chapter we have the *rst foray into0panishadic metaphysics. This is contained in thediscussion between %-l- i 2-rgya and !@-taUatru, ingof %enares. %-l- i claims to reveal the nature of%rahman if he is given a large number of cows. !fterthe ing agrees to this %-l- i says that %r-hman is the


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being in the sun, moon, lightening, space, *re, water,Dbeing in the mirrorE, etc. It was easy for the ing torefute these claims, and he then gives what isconsidered the true answer viA. that %rahman is the +elf (Ktman). 56ote ""7 This gives the famous 0panishadicequation1 %rahman ^ +elf. %ut neither of the terms inthis equation is really explained either in this 0panishador any of the others which repeat this formula adnauseum . To add to the confusion two forms of%r-hman are mentioned O the gross %rahman which isultimately equated to the +un, and the subtle formwhich is equated to the breath (pr-na) and lives withinthe human body. Thus pr-na also enters the vocabularyas an important term in the 0panishads.

!fter %-l- i accepts !@-taUatruEs view the twoencounter a sleeping man. This lead !@-taUatru to givea discourse on sleep which is another favourite themein the 0panishads. Juring sleep it is claimed the inner

+oul is set free to roam about and this explains thedream state. Various stages of sleep are identi*ed, butnot in the way a modern psychologist would analyAedreams.

6ext comes the discourse of -@_aval ya (who isabout to become a Vanaprastin) with his wife aitrey9.56ote " 7 Lis wife wanted to now the secret ofimmotality and the husband replies that this comes notthrough wealth but through the nowledge that%rahman as the immortal self (or soul). Fhen one hasgained this nowledge then Qafter death there is noconsciousness ( na pretya sa *āsti )R. This statementconfuses aitrey9, as is li ely to confuse anyone, but


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her remonstrance is met by the statement that there isno duality but only non duality (advaitya) , i.e. only the%rahman which is the eternal +oul is real and true.:nce again one un nown is explained by anotherun nown.

The last section of the second chapter of this0panishad is the so called QhoneyR (madu) section,which is an instruction said to have been given byJadya_c Krthava a to the two !Uvins. It lists "3 entitiesnamely1 earth, waters, *re, wind, sun, quarters of

heaven, moon, lightning, thunder, space, aw (dharma),truth, man ind and +oul (Ktman). Then with respect toeach it ma es the following statement (illustrated herefor the *rst item DearthE)1 QThis earth is (li e) honey forall beings, and all beings are (li e) honey for this earth.(The same with) the shining, immortal being who is inthis earth, and the shining, immortal corporeal being inthe body. (These four) are but this +elf. This (+elf

nowledge) is (the means of) immortality[ this(underlying unity) is %rahman[ this ( nowledge of%rahman) is (means of becoming) allR 56ote "/7. Thisformula is repeated for each of the other entities in thelist (with slight changes). The reference to an QimmortalbeingR is an indication always immanent in the0panishads but rarely stated openly is that the%rahman is not really a neuter but a person (ofunspeci*ed gender) which it is not too diZcult toidentify with 2od for the theistically oriented. ThisQhoneyR section is considered as an important passagegiving the essence of the 0panishadic position[ it istherefore necessary to point out that it is basically an


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unsound argument that is advanced in this section.

In the third &hapter we have -@_aval ya at thesacri*ce of Mana a, ing of Videha. The ing o?ersreward to the most learned %rahmin. -@_aval yasta es his claim, but eight other %rahmins contest this.

Then debate ensues. The %rahmns (with the sub@ectsdebated) were1 !Uvala (sacri*cial rewards), Krthabh-ga(life after death), %hu@yu (where horse sacri*cers go),0shasta (self), 8ahola (giving up desires), 2-rgi (the0niverse), 0dd-la a (string which holds the worlds).

&learly these questions cannot be settled then (or evennow). -@_aval ya simply answers his critics with histheory of the +elf. The rest of the &hapter deals withdebates with several other seers.

The fourth &hapter records debates in the court of Mana a with the ing and with several others on thesub@ect of what %rahman is. -@_aval ya re@ects MitvanYsview that it is speech, 0dd-l aYs view that it is the lifebreath, %ar uYs view that it is sight, 2ardabhivipitaYsview that it is hearing, +atya -maYs view that it is themind, and *nally VidagdhaYs view that it is the heart. Lestic s to his view that it is the +elf.

+everal other matters are discussed in the court of Mana a. There is a long discussion on the Vedic gods. To Mana aEs question DFhat is the light of manE, -@_aval ya *rst mentions the sun, moon, *re etc. and*nally says that when all these are gone it is the +elfthat is the light of man. Le identi*es the state of sleepas an existence between the present world and the nextone. The dream state is seen as one where the +oul


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wanders free. This chapter also contains a rudimentarydoctrine of arma again attributed to -@_aval ya. Italso contains -@_aval yaEs exposition of the doctrine of reincarnation. It concludes with another version of

-@_aval yaEs dialogue with his wife aitreyi,

The *fth &hapter deals with a miscellany of mattersstarting with sub@ects of meditation. !s %rahman is thecentral concept in this 0panishad the *rst QmeditationsRmentioned relate to it. %rahman is *rst to be consideredas space (- -Ua), then as the heart, then as the real or

the true (satya brahman). This meditation consists ofreNecting on the three syllables ma ing the wordDsatyaE. Then comes meditations on mind, lightning,Dvedas as a cowE, and lastly on the digestive process(called the Vaisvan-ra *re). The path of the departingsoul after death is described as *rst reaching the air,then the sun, then the moon, and *nally Qa world free of grief and cold where it dwells for endless yearsR. 6o

arma or reincarnation is considered. The &hapterconcludes with a disquisition on the breath, the 2ayatriverse and a prayer for the safe passage after death asindicated previously.

The last chapter begins with a disputation amongthe various human organs (li e speech, eye, ear, mind,Dorgan of generationE) as which is the best. They allconcede that the this has to be accorded to the DvitalbreathE because this is the last to be extinguished atdeath. Then follows an account of what happens afterdeath which is quite di?erent from that given in theprevious chapter. 6ow two paths are identi*ed, onegoing to the world of the gods, and the other to the


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world of the fathers, depending on their actions. Thosewho do not qualify of either of these two paths becomeinsects, moths and the li e. This is ta en as anotherstatement of the doctrine of transmigration. This theoryalso occurs in the &h-dogya 0panishad.

(b) The !h&ndo/ya Upanishad

This 0panishad is the last section of the &h-ndogya%r-hma a which is in turn is attached to the +-maVeda. The 0panishad has > chapters and most of it isconcerned with the Q+amanR, which is the +amavedicchant of the +oma sacri*ce. There is an overlapbetween this 0panishad and the %4ihad-ra ya a withsome repetitions. It is speculated that both these0panishads were composed out of preexisting0panishadic material..

The *rst two chapters glorify the chanting of the+-ma Veda. It equates the Ligh &hant (0dgita) to themystical word D:mE. It goes into great detail about theconduct of the +oma sacri*ce. This is pure %r-hma astu?.

In &hapter / the sun is called the honey of thegods, and the various chants are compared to the rays

of the sun. In this chapter %rahman (usually in theneuter) is referred to as the (masculine) god %rahm-1QVerily, all this universe is %rahman. Grom Lim do allthings originate, into him do they dissolve, and by Limare they sustained.R ( /."3, +wahananda translation). This is thesame as the later traditional Lindu view of 2od as the


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&reator, +ustainer and Jestroyer. The chapterconcludes with the origin of the world as the primordialegg 56ote "37, another elaboration of the Vedic creationmyth. &hapter 3 narrates several stories and containsinstructions for the conduct of the sacri*ce.

&hapter # begins by extolling the breath aboveother bodily functions (as in the contest between thebodily functions given in the %4ihad-ra ya a). It thendetails the Q*ve *resR into which o?erings have to bemade to obtain certain bene*ts. The leads (#.# #."$)

to another of the classic statements of the doctrine oftransmigration as it appears in the 0panishads. Thisnowledge is given by a 8Batriya ing to a %rahmin

2autama. The two paths, the way of the fathers(Hit4iy-na) and the way of the gods (Jevay-na) arementioned, and in addition the return to the earth( anussay-naW). The last is the true doctrine oftransmigration. %ut what is not clear is whether the *rst

two paths lead to a *nal destination or only to atemporary reward to be followed by the transmigrationbased on action ( arman).

&hapter ; begins with the famous conversationbetween 0ddal- a Kruni and his son +veta etu.0ddal- a as s his son if he has been instructed in theteaching by which Qthat (which) is unheard becomesheardR, and so on for the other senses. :n being toldthat he has not 0ddal- a gives the metaphor of clay1Q... @ust as through a single clod of clay all that is madeof clay would become nown, for all modi*cations is butthe name based upon words but the clay alone is real.R( ;.".;) Le then extends the analogy to creation and


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says QIn the beginning this was %eing alone only onewithout a secondR (;. ."). Then after a longconversation, with that peculiar 0panishadic logic, hereduces the ultimate substance (clay in his analogy) to+elf. The chapter closes with +veta atu fully instructed1QDThat %eing which is this subtle essence (cause), even

That all this world has for its self. That is the true. Thatis the !tman. That thou art, : +veta etu.ER (;."3./) Thisthen is the Qhighest and ultimate truthR of the0panishads, its supreme mystery, which is said to leadthe person who has this nowledge to ultimateliberation.

&hapter < starts with the conversation between6-rada and +anat um-ra. 6-rada claims to havemastered all the traditional nowledge from the Vedasto more secular sub@ects. %ut +anat um-ra dismissesall that as mere 6ame only. Le then goes to list thethings that are greater than 6ame. Le gives a typical

0panishadic list, each of the items in this list beinggreater than the preceding one, as follows1 +peech,ind, Fill, Intelligence, &ontemplation, 0nderstanding,

+trength, Good, Fater, Gire, +pace, emory, !spirationand %reath (pr-na). Forshiping any one of these givesits own rewards, but 6-rada is encouraged to go to thenext on the list. The culmination of +anat um-raEsinstruction thus ends with Hr-na1 QMust as the spo es ofthe wheel are fastened to the nave, so is all thisfastened to this Hr-na . Hr-na moves by Hr-na , Hr-nagives Hr-na and it gives Hr-na . Hr-na is the father,Hr-na is the mother, Hr-na is the brother, Hr-na is thesister, Hr-na is the preceptor, Hr-na is the %rahmana.R(


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because Q'verything springs from !tmanR (


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little to what we have encountered in the%4ihad-ra ya a and the &h-ndogya 0panishads.

The *rst Valli, called the +tudentEs &hapter givesinstruction to a new student. It deals with the teacherEsand studentEs prayers, phonetics, the studentEsdiscipline, reading of Vedas etc. Fhat may be called thestudentsE curriculum is stated as including thefollowing1 =ight ( ṛta ), Truth (satya)+ !usterity ( tapas ),+elf control (dama)+ Tranquillity (!ama)+ the 5sacri*cial7Gires, the !gnihotra sacri*ce, 2uests,

Lumanity (manussa)+ :?spring, %egetting, andHrocreation. It is curious to *nd o?spring, begetting andprocreation included in he +tudent phase whereas it istraditionally placed in the householder phase. Herhapswhat is meant is that students are taught to engage inthese activities after their student phase is over. Thechapter contains a great deal of Vedic lore such as thefour mystical utterances1 %hCr, %huvas, +uvar and

ahas. The second Valli called the Q%liss of %r-hman (or

%rahm-)R introduces the doctrine of the Q*ve sheathsR. This attempts to trace the course of evolution from theprimal Ktman through the the *ve essences (orsheaths) to the human person. These *ve elements arelisted as food, breath, mind, understanding and bliss. !reverse progression is also mentioned when it is statedthat QLe who nows this, on departing from this world,proceeds on to that self which consists of food,proceeds on to that self which consists of breath,proceeds on to that self which consists of mind,proceeds on to that self which consists of


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understanding, proceeds on to that self which consistsof bliss.R 56ote ";7 (Tait, ,>) This has been interpretedas implying that Q within the self there are various selves, but the true nower must advance tothe highest self R (Lume, Thirteen Hrincipal 0pnishads, p. >X,note)

The doctrine of the *ve sheaths is a curiousclassi*cation of the components of the humanpersonality. It could be contrasted to the *vecomponents of personality in %uddhism, viA. form(r,pa ), feeling ( vedanā ), perception ( sa**ā ), ental

formations, ( sa-kāra ), and consciousness ( vi*ā a ). The *nal Valli is another instruction from father to

son, here from Varu a to %h4igu. Varu a guides his sonto %rahman through food, then breath, then mind, thenunderstanding, and *nally the bliss of brahman. Theseare stages which occur in various combinations in manyother places in the 0panishads.

+d, The 0itreya Upanishad

This 0panishad, which is a part of the !itreyaKra ya a of the Sg Veda, is the short 0panishadconsisting of three short chapters[ its authorship isattributed to ahid-sa.

The *rst &hapter deals with creation. It starts withthe sentence1 QIn the beginning, Ktman (+elf, +oul),verily, one only, was hereO no other win ing thingwhatever. Le bethought himself1 D et me now createworlds.ER This faces the dilemma of all creation theories.


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It posits of a creator (here Ktman) but it cannot explainhow the creator came to be on the scene. The use ofthe masculine pronoun QheR with reference to Ktmanindicates that the creator is a person, not an inanimateprinciple.

The order of creation as given in this 0panishaddi?ers from versions in other 0panishads but involvethe same ind of elements. Lere Ktman is said to have*rst created Qthese worlds1 water (am"has)+ lightrays (mar.ci)+ death (mara)+ the waters ( ap )R. Then

other elements li e speech, breath, sight, hearing, etc.are said to have been created next. These togetherform the person (puruBa). Fe have the peculiarsituation where personal characteristics li e speech arecreated before the person is fully existent.

The second &hapter is interpreted as giving aversion of the reincarnation doctrine. %ut it is a veryanemic version of reincarnation, not as clear as in otherplaces in the 0panishads. Three births are identi*ed inthis section, two in the current and the third in thefuture life. The *rst is the physical conception as anembryo ( gar"ha ). The next stage is self becoming(-tma bhCya). This allows the person to do pious deeds(punya arman). !fter the person dies the third birthta es place according to his deeds ( 4ta 4tya). Fe shallexamine the 0panishadic theoryof reincarnation later.

The third section identi*es the +elf with nowledge(or intelligence) which is the ultimate %rahman.


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+e, The ausitaki Upanishad

This belongs to the Sg Veda and consists of fourchapters. The *rst chapter contains a more detailedaccount of reincarnation than is found in the !itreya0panishad. Lere the sage &itra 2-Pgy_yani tells0ddal- a1 Q!ll who depart from this world go to themoon. In the former, (the bright) half, the moondelights in their spirits[ in the other, (the dar ) half, themoon sends them on to be born again. Verily, the moonis the door of the +varga world (the heavenly world).

6ow, if a man ob@ects to the moon (if one is notsatis*ed with life there) the moon sets him free. %ut if aman does not ob@ect, then the moon sends him down asrain upon this earth. !nd according to his deeds andaccording to his nowledge he is born again here as aworm, or as an insect, (etc.)or as a man, or assomething else in di?erent places.R (8au ". ) &learlythe moon is seen as the gateway either to the path of

the gods (devay-na) or the Qworld of the fathersR(p9triy-na) or for rebirth again on earth. If one is on thepath of the gods he could pass through the worlds ofvarious gods (li e Varuna or Indra) and *nally reach theworld of %rahm- (Liranyagarbha) as his ultimatedestination. This *nal destination is described in termsnot too di?erent from that of the Islamic paradise`

&hapter starts by giving the views on %rahmanby a number of seers. They do not say anything newother than going through the usual 0panishadicrepertoire of +peech, %reath, 'ye, 'ar, ind andIntelligence. Then it goes on to give rites and sacri*cesthat should be done to secure various favours.


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&onsiderable ingenuity is expended on this sub@ect. Thus Hratardana spea s of an QInner !gnihotra+acri*ceR as follows1 Q!s long as a person is spea inghe is not able to breathe. Then he is sacri*cing breath( prā a ) in speech. !s long as a person is spea ing he isnot able to breathe. Then he is sacri*cing speech(vāc )in breathR ( .#.3). +o whether you are spea ing orbreathing you are automatically ma ing a sacri*ce.+imilar absurdities are given as rites to obtain allmanner of things li e securing oneEs own welfare,securing the welfare of oneEs children, winninganotherEs a?ection, removing sin, etc. There is even arite prescribed during sexual intercourse ( ."$)` Thechapter concludes with the ritual to be followed whenthe father is about to die to transfer his tradition to hisson ( ."#).

The third chapter begins with IndraEs instruction toHratardana. This discourse is concerned with the breath.

There is nothing new here and can be omitted. The fourth and last chapter deals with the promise

to Qdeclare %rahmanR given by 2-rgya %-l- i to!@-taUatru ing of 8-si for the reward of a thousandcows. (These 0panishadic seers will not give outanything without some material gain for themselves`)%-l- i then gives a succession of de*nitions li e Dtheperson in the sunE, Dthe person in the moon, Dthe personin *reE, Dthe person in the mirrorE. Dthe person here whoasleep moves about in a dreamE, etc. !ll these arerefuted by !@-taUatru. Ginally %-l- i ac nowledgesdefeat by accepting studentship under (Qgoes fuel inhandR to) !@-taUatru. Ta ing the example of a sleeping


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man who hs @ust wo en up !@-taUatru explains that it isthe breathing spirit ( prā a ) and the intelligential self( pra *ātman ) within the body ( śarirātmn ) that is whatshould be ta en as the %rahman.

+*, "ther Upanishads

Fhile the *ve 0panishads we have considered areimportant for our purpose as they are claimed to be thepre %uddhist 0panishads the others too may be brieNynoticed.

The a2ha Upanishad is the *rst 0panishad to betranslated to a 'uropean language. It begins withV-@aUravasa about to sacri*ce some old cows. Lis son6achi etas pesters him for sacri*cing worthless cows tothe gods. In a *t of rage he gives 6achi etas to amathe ruler of the afterworld. The 0panishad records theconversation between 6achi etas and ama. amagives 6achi etas three boons. The *rst that 6achi etaschooses is to be reconciled with his father, the secondon how go to the heavenly world, and the third whathappens after death. This leads to a discussion of whatta es place after death, and on the life breath (pr- a)which is the favourite topic in the 0panishads.

The 3vet&4vatara Upanishad is one of the mosttheistic of the 0panishads with many similarities to the%hagavad 29t- 56ote "


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the *rst time and last chapter extols devotion ( "hakti )to 2od as an essential virtue. The 0panishad ends inthis vein1 QTo one who has the highestdevotion ("hakti) for 2od, ... to him these matters whichhave been declared become manifest, a greatsoul (mahātman) R.

The 5u 6aka Upanishad is somewhat eclecticand seems to both endorse and to oppose the old Vedictradition. In the *rst of the three chapters !Pgirasinstructs his pupil that there are two inds of

nowledge, the lower nowledge which includes thetraditional Vedas and the higher which contains only thenowledge of the QImperishableR. It is interesting that it

says that this Imperishable is without caste (avar a).Lowever the performance of the traditional ritual isendorsed1 Qthe wor s which the sages saw 5in the Vedichymns7 follow them, this is your path to the world ofgood deedsR (". ."). The second chapter states the by

now traditional doctrine of the self. The last chapter,which deal with the way to %rahma extols ascetism. This is the path to the %rahman, while the ritualsendorsed in the *rst chapter only lead to a heavenlyrealm.

The 4& Upanishad is the shortest of the Hrincipal0panishads. It is extremely theistic and starts with1 Q%ythe ord (9U-) enveloped must all this be...R

The Pra4na Unpanishad is a relatively late0panishad. It consists of answers to six questions posedto Hippal-da by six other seers. These questions dealwith a miscellany of matters such as1 the origin of


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creatures, superiority of breath, how the -tman exitsthe body, dreams, D: E, and the sixteen parts of man.

These are treated in the traditional 0panishadicmanner.

The ena Upanishad says that people cannotnow %rahman and what people worship as it is false1

QThat which is not expressed by speech and by whichspeech is expressed, that alone now as %rahman, notthat which people here adore R (".# ;). In the next

handa there is a confusing verse which says that

%rahman Qis not understood by those who understandit, it is understood by those who do not understand itR( ./). This illustrates the ind of confusion that the veryconcept of %rahman leads to. It claims that %rahman isa mysterious entity yet spea s of it at other times inhuman terms. This 0panishad concludes with the storyof %rahman engaged in a battle with the !suras` :nceagain %rahman is well and truly personi*ed.

The six 0panishads covered in this sectioncomplete the 0panishads which are regarded as themain 0panishads. +ometimes the aitri 0panishad isalso included in the early 0panishads. %ut it is clearly apost %uddhist 0panishad.

7. The !entral !oncepts o* the Upanishads

The summary of the principal early 0panishadsgiven in the previous section has already uncoveredsome of the principal concepts which underlie thephilosophy of the 0panishads. Fe shall now considerthese concepts critically, including some which had not


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been speci*cally discussed.

+i, Brah an

%rahman is the central concept of the 0panishads.%ut there is a fundamental contradiction in the usage of this term. It is usually represented, especially byFestern admirers of the 0panishads, as an abstractQ2round of %eingR or the substrate of the 0niverse onwhich everything is founded. 56ote ">7 In this sense itcould be seen as an impersonal force. In +ans rit thegender of the term is neuter and this will tend tocon*rm this interpretation. et it is also spo en of as aperson, and identi*ed with the supreme 2od of the%r-hmanism. In many places in the 0panishads thequestion is posed QFhat is %rahmanR or Q'xplain%rahmanR. Fhen this is explanation is given thereference is invariably to a person, a person of themasculine gender and referred to as a QLeR. In fact%rahman and %rahm- are used interchangeably inmany places. +everal examples of this usage are givenin the previous section of this 'ssay.

DFhat is %rahman WR is a frequent question as edof seers in the early 0panishds. The answer given tothis is often a list of things and qualities. !mongst these

are1 speech, breath, eye, touch, mind, heard, etc.0sually each one of these is re@ected in favour of thesucceeding term which to is re@ected. The processusually ends with +elf (-tman) being identi*ed.

Ingenious explanations have been adduced to


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explain the fundamental contradiction which underlies%rahman, whether is an impersonal state or a personanalogous to the divine being of many other religions,and therefore a person of some ind. The problemwhich this ind of things leads to could be illustratedfrom a statement in the u \a a 0panishad1 Q%rahmanis in*nite, and this conditioned Brahman is in*nite. Thein*nite proceeds from in*nite. Then through nowledge,realiAing the in*nitude of the in*nite, it remains asin*nite aloneR.

If %rahman is ta en as the supreme 2od then itwould be similar to the 2od of other monotheisticreligions li e ahweh in Mudaism or !llah in Islam 56ote"X7. This is also what the term ended in becoming inclassical Linduism. !lready in the Vedic texts weencounter the anthropomorphic god %rahm- who isconsidered the chief the Vedic pantheon (butsometimes Indra or Hra@-pati is given that title)

In both senses of the term, either as an impersonalground of being, or as a personal god, the term%rahman is a purely metaphysical term. There is noempirical counterpart or evidence produced in either ofthese interpretations. It has to be accepted purely onfaith.

There is also the frequent assertion %rahman isKtman. Indeed this is often referred to as the suprememystery of the 0panishads and its most important pieceof Q nowledgeR. %ut this is simply replacing oneunde*ned term with another. +o it is to the Ktman thatwe must turn.


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+ii, 8t an

This term is usually translated as D+elfE or D+oulE,with the former rendition being the more common.Lowever D+elfE can have many meanings. There is theusage of the term to refer to a physical person, and themore specialiAed usages in the 0panishads. D+oulE onthe other hand is a metaphysical term referring to anentity which supposed to cohabit with the physical bodyto form a functioning person. In this view body and soul

are di?erent. In the !brahamic religions the soul issupposed to be created by 2od at the birth (orconception) of an individual, and this soul has aneternal existence even after death going to its rewardeither in Leaven or Lell. %oth meanings of -tman existin the 0panishads with the empirical physical meaningsometimes made clear by referring to it as the self inthe body (Uarir-tman). Lowever it was usual to attach

-tman to any physical or mental function, e.g. theintelligent soul (vi@_-n-tman) by which is meant thepower of intelligence, the -tman being added purely foremphasis.

In many 0panishads (e.g. the 8a ha 0panisahd) the-tman is said to reside in the cavity of the heart. In thissense the -tman is clearly loo ed upon as the soul.!lthough the -tman is said to temporarily leave itsplace of residence when the person is in deep sleep, the*nal departure occurs at death. Then the -tman is saidto leave the cavity of the heart by any one of thehundred odd nerves that radiate from the heart. 'ach of these ta e the soul to a di?erent destination, but only


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one channel, that which leads to the top of the head, isthe one that the soul will ta e to ascend to the realm ofthe devas. This view of the -tman as soul is the viewthat came to be accepted in later Linduism.

'ven in this metaphysical sense the matter iscomplicated by identifying two di?erent inds of soul Othe individual soul(s) and the universal soul. :ne wouldexpect that logically it is only this universal +oul thatshould be equated to %rahman, but this is not clearlystated, and even the soul which resides in the heart of a

single individual is said to be connected to the universalor cosmic soul.

In whatever way we interpret the -tman it is adeeply Nawed concept.

+iii, !os olo/y

&osmology deals with theories relating to thestructure and the origin of the 0niverse. Views on boththese aspects are scattered throughout the 0panishads.

The Vedas had a simpli*ed view of the structure ofthe universe. It consisted of / planes O the earth ( "h,r )below, the s y ( svar ) above and the intermediateregions ( "huvas ). The s y contained the sun, moon,stars, etc. and the intermediate region contained rain,storms, lightning, etc. !ll these were dei*ed. ater onmore realms were added even beyond the s y leadingup to the %rahma world. &uriously the 0panishads donot mention hellish realms, although these too were


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added in later times. There is mention of the spirit worldof the 2andharvas and similar beings. This cosmologymay be slightly superior to the %iblical cosmology of aNat earth with a hemispherical vault above it containingthe celestial bodies. Fe cannot expect a better view ofthe universe in that early age.

:n another level we have the three fold divisioninto the world of the gods, the world of the fathers andthe world of humans. This was related to destination ofhumans after death as given in the speculations of the

8ausita i 0panishad and other 0panishads.:n the question of the origin of the 0niverse the

Vedas (including the 0panishads) believed in creation. The doctrine of creation which underlies all theisticreligion is most rudimentary in the Vedas,. The0panishads provided no improvement. !t the start ofthe %4ihad-ranya e we read1 QIn the beginning therewas nothing whatsoever in the universe. %y Jeath,indeed, all this was coveredO by hunger, for hunger is,verily, death. D et e have a mindE, was Lis desire andLe created the mind. Then Le moved about, worshipingLimself. Grom Lim, thus worshiping, water wasproducedR ( .".") and so on. Fho the DLeE was is neverexplicitly speci*ed but the &reator 2od most commonlymentioned is Hra@-pati although this name does notoccur in the %4ihad-ra ya a in this connection.

The failure of the 0panishads, li e other viewsbefore the emergence of the modern view, on the originof the universe and life on the planet, indicates thatwhat it says about other sub@ects must be sub@ected to


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the same degree of suspicion.

+iv, Physiolo/y and Psycholo/y

Hhysiology relates to bodily features and functionsand psychology to mental aspects of the person. The0panishads did not ma e a sharp distinction betweenthe two and elements belonging to both were oftengrouped in the same list.

:n the physiology side we have already mentionedthe importance attached to the heart. In this they wereperpetuating an ancient misunderstanding about thefunction of the heart in the human body. 56ote $7 Theyhad no idea of the functioning of the brain. They wereinterested in *nding the QInner &ontrollerR and theLeart was their choice. %ut modern physiology hasshown that the heart merely responds to electrical andchemical signals sent by the brain. :ther than theirconcern with the heart and the networ of veins,arteries and nerves proceeding form it the 0panishadsshow little concern with the physical body.

:f the bodily functions the greatest importance isattached to breath ( prā a ). :riginally this term meantthe entire breathing process. ater on it was restrictedto mean the expiration of the breath, while the inbreath was denoted by apāna . The intermediate stagebetween the inspriation and the expiration wasterms vyāna , sometimes translated as Qinterspiration.

There is an up breath ( udāna ) mentioned but probablywas another term for apāna . This concern with the


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breath was probably because when breathing stops theperson dies immediately. The other faculties li e eating,spea ing, hearing, smelling, touching,, procreating, etc.are also mentioned but people can have these impairedand still live. This is a trite observation and does not

@ustify the importance which is given to breath, evenequating it to %rahman and Ktman, the supremeconcepts of the 0panishads. 56ote "7

The 0panishadic seers had a good idea of anatomy.!fter all they were expert butchers of the animals they

sacri*ced and were fully aware of the anatomy of theanimals they dismembered. They would have correctlysurmised that the human anatomy was similar. Fhilemost human organs are inside and the person is notaware of them this is not the case of the heart.

+v, ar an and Sas&ra

!s is well nown most Indian religions andphilosophies accept a version of the doctrine of armaand reincarnation (or rebirth) 56ote 7. The speci*csrelating to this di?er in the various traditions%rahmanical, Main, %uddhist and Lindu. !s such manypeople have been searching for the origin of theseideas. The Vedic eschatalogy thought that a person on

death goes either to the moon or the +un depending onhow well he observed the sacri*ces and made theoblations to the gods. !nd the 0panishadic authors canrightfully sta e a claim in this regard.

8arma refers to actions done by individuals. +ome


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see it more narrowly as the action of doing the sacri*ce. The arma theory asserts that actions haveconsequences sometimes seen in the present life andsometimes in a future existence. !ccording as theseconsequences are deemed good or bad thecorresponding actions are approved or disapproved.

The evaluation of actions in terms of their being right orwrong is the concern of ethics. +o a theory of arma isalso an ethical theory.

The ethical theory in the 0panishads is wea . The

good actions which bring good results are those whichare in conformity with ritual actions. Gor householders itis centered on sacri*ce, o?ering of oblations andworship of gods. ater on arma was used to denote thedoing of things prescribed by he caste system.

! theory of arma usually posits of the possibility of reincarnation or rebirth. If a series of re births or reincarnations is postulated we have the cycle of sas-ra.

Then the eschatological question arises when and howsas-ra ends. %uddhism postulates 6irv-na as the end of sas-ra. ater Linduism posits union with %rahm- as theend of sas-ra. The 0panishadic answer to this questionis not as clear.

There are many instances that 0panishadic seersposited a theory of reincarnation. Fe have mentionedthe doctrine of the three births in the !itreya where thethird birth is really a reincarnation. %ut it is -@_aval yawho is considered the true author of the doctrine oftransmigration. In the %4ihad-ranya a he gives thefamous analogy of the caterpillar1 Q6ow as a caterpillar,


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when it has come to the end of a blade of grass, inta ing the next step draws. itself together towards it,

@ust so this soul in ta ing the next step stri es down thisbody, dispels its ignorance, and draws itself together.R(3.3. ).

The doctrines of arma and rebirth has left its marin all later Indian religion and philosophy although thereare radical di?erences in the way these are interpreted.

+vi, no9led/e

In the 0panishads great emphasis is given to theacquisition of nowledge and the elimination ofIgnorance (avidy-). The !itreya calls nowledge theultimate %rahman. Lowever what is meant by

nowledge is not what would be considered today assecular nowledge. It consists of belief in metaphysicalconcepts which are accepted without any credible proof.

It is believed that having this ind of nowledgeconfers special powers on the person with the

nowledge. The Indian doctrine of the satya 4iy- statesthat the very utterance of a truth has directconsequences for the bene*t of the person uttering it.

:. The Upanishads and Buddhis

In this section we shall explore the relationshipbetween the 0panishadic theory and %uddhism bywhich term we shall mean the Jhamma Vinaya ascribedto the Indian sage 2otama (2autama) popularly nown


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as the %uddha 56ote /7.

+a, So e General !onsiderations

Lere we consider matters relating to time, placeand persons which are relevant to establish theconnections between the two systems of thought. It isgenerally accepted that the some of the early0panishads (including the two most important of them,the %4ihd-ra ya a and the &h-ndogya) came beforethe %uddha. %ut unfortunately there is not enough

evidence to date these 0panishads more precisely. It isgenerally believed that they were in existence by ;$$%&'. 2iven that the %uddhaEs 'nlightenment has beenplaced about #$$ %&' 56ote 37 this means that the0panishadic doctrines were nown for at least a centurybefore the %uddhaEs time.

Fith regard to geography there has been somescholarly interest in *nding the areas in which the0panishadic doctrines arose. This has some relevancein establishing lin s between 0panishad doctrines andthose of %uddhism. Fhile it is generally believed thatthe original Vedic hymns were composed in the regionof the Indus basin it is thought that the centre of laterVedic speculation moved eastwards along the 2angesbasin. It is of course well nown that the cradle of%uddhism was in the middle 2anges basin, particularlythe ingdoms of aghada and 8osala.

It is believed that the early 0panishads werecomposed in the regions 8uru Hanc-la and Videha.

These are well to the east of the Indus river which wasthe birthplace of the original Vedic hymns and to the


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west of what was the cradle of %uddhism. +o it is quitepossible that the 0panishadic teaching originated in thearea immediately to the Fest of the region where%uddhism arose.

Fith regards to the personalities involved we nownext to nothing of the seers mentioned in the0panshads except the names that were given to them.

The %uddhist texts mention the teachers who existedduring the %uddhaEs time, or immediately prior to it.

The question is whether any of them could be identi*ed

as followers of the 0panishad teaching. There is aconventional listing of six schools but they were ascetic(samanas) outside the main %rahmanical shools. Lenames of %rahamins who came to dispute with the%uddha and the arhants are given, but they are not theseers of the 0panishads. :f course those seers, even ifthey existed, would have died by the time of the%uddha.

Fe may *nally notice the question posed byscholars whether elements of the %uddhaEs doctrine iscontained in 0panishadic teaching. These scholars haveadvanced the view that either the 0panishads containthe central ideas of %uddhism or that %uddhism is itselfa development of the 0panishads. %oth the Hali textsand the 0panishads came to the attention of Festernscholars in the nineteenth century and it was natural tocompare them with each other. 56ote #7 :ne of theearly :rientalists ax ller asserted that QThe0panishads are ... the germs of %uddhism, while%uddhism is in many respects the doctrine of the0panishads carried out to the last consequences...R


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(Sacred Books o$ the /ast , V, p.li). Gar from agreeingwith this view it will be shown that %uddhism is in manyrespects the opposite of what the authors of the0panishads were tal ing about. If the 0panishadsexerted any inNuence it was a detrimental one relatingto some minor doctrines which the %uddha seems tohave tolerated. The principal of these is the acceptanceof he existence of extra human beings li e the gods ofthe Vedic system and the demons. :nly the doctrine ofthe cycle of births whose origin has been traced to the0panishadic seers seems to be ma@or debt that%uddhism owes to the 0panishads.

+b, The Buddha;s re*utation o* Brah an and8t an

!s we have seen the 0panishadic system wasbased on the twin pillars of %rahman and Ktman. Insome situations these two were declared to be thesame, with the latter term the more commonly used todenote the combined entity. The %uddha demolishedboth these pillars of the 0panishadic system.

The neuter term %rahman does not occur in the Hali&anon. Grom this some people have argued that eitherthat the %uddha was unaware of this usage, or that hetacitly accepted, or that he could not refute this. 6oneof this can be accepted. The %uddha was quite awarethat by %rahman those who used this term meant theVedic deity %rahm- who is credited with all inds offeats. +o he used the term D ah- %rahm-E to denotethe entity that is referred to in the 0panishads as%rahman.


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In the %uddhist texts ah- %rahm- is representedas claiming the following attributes for himself1

I am %rahm-, the 2reat %rahm-, the +upreme:ne, the ighty, the !ll seeing, the =uler, the ordof all, the a er, the &reator, the &hief of allappointing to each his place, the !ncient of days,the Gather of all that is and will be. (J9gha 6i -ya,II, ;/).

The %uddha dismisses all these claims of ah-%rahm- as being due to his own delusions broughtabout by ignorance. Le argues that ah- %rahm- issimply another deva , perhaps with greater armic forcethan the other gods, but nonetheless a deva andtherefore unenlightened and sub@ect to the sams-ricprocess as determined by his arma. In such suttas asthe the !gga__a +utta the %uddha refutes the claims of

aha %rahm- and shows him to be sub@ect to armiclaw (i.e. cosmic law). 'ven though long lived ah-%rahm- will be eliminated in each cycle of inevitableworld dissolution and re evolution. In the 8hevadda+utta ah- %rahm- is forced to admit to an inquiringmon that he is unable to answer a question that isposed to him, and advises the mon to consult the%uddha. This clearly shows the %rahmac nowledgesthe superiority of the %uddha.

Fith %rahman equated to ah- %rahm-, and thelatter reduced to the status of a deva with limitedpowers the %uddha goes on to demolish the secondpillar of the 0panishads, i.e the -tman doctrine. !s we


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have seen there are several versions of -tmanmentioned in the 0panishads the most basic being thephysical body of the persons (the sar9r-tman). In thissense the %uddha simply equation the -tman to therCpa component of the empirical person. !s such itcould be accepted and it is simply referred to as theempirical self.

%ut the 0panishadic notion of a metaphysical-tman residing in the core of the human person, in theQcavityR of the heart is totally re@ected by the %uddha.

Fe can refer to this as the soul concept to contrast itwith the empirical person.

:ne of the cardinal principles of the %uddhaEsteaching is the absence of a soul (the anattā doctrine).

This distinguishes %uddhism not only from the Vedictradition but also some other non Vedic philosophiesli e Mainism. The %uddha includes anattā as one of thethree characteristics of all Jhammas, the other twobeing dukkha (Dsu?eringE, DunsatisfactorinessE) andanicca (DimpermanenceE). It is even more importantthan its denial of a &reator 2od to which it is related to.

If we remove -tman from the 0panishadic doctrinenothing worthwhile remains. 'ven %rahman is validatedby its identi*cation with -tman. +o even those whorefuse to accept that ah- %rahm- as the %uddhaEsequivalent to the neuter %rahman of the 0panishadswill *nd the %uddhaEs re@ection of the -tman doctrine asequivalent to the re@ection of %rahman because of the0panishadic equation1 %rahman ^ Ktman. FithoutKtman there is no %rahman, and the %uddha re@ects


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Ktman, so he re@ects %rahman.

+b, The $vidence *ro the Suttas

There is no sutta which speci*cally refers to the0panishads. %ut a number of the %uddhaEs discoursesrefer to the Vedic system. %y the Qthree VedasR the%uddha did not simply mean the three original Vedasbut the whole corpus which came to be attached to theoriginal Vedas including the later %r-hmanas and theKranya as (which of course include the 0panishads).Fe can now examine some of that evidence.

!t the very commencement of the +utta Hi a a inthe %rahma@-las +utta the %uddha considers ;systems as unsatisfactory or erroneous. ost of themare attributed to Qcertain sama as and br-hmanasR.0nfortunately it is not possible to tell which school ofsama as or brahmanas propagated each individualerror. This has to be inferred from the doctrines ofdi?erent schools as we have them.

The ; errors could be classi*ed in many ways. ">relate to the past of the world and or the soul. :f there3 are described as QeternalistR (i.e. both the world andthe soul are eternal), 3 are semi eternalist (i.e some areeternal and some not), 3 relate to the origin and siAe ofthe universe, 3 ta e a s eptical (amar-vi hepi -)position, and relate to causality. The remaining 33 aredoctrines about the future, i.e. to the question ofrebirth. :f these "; posit conscious post mortemsurvival, > of unconscious post mortem survival (i.e.


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people cannot recall the previous births), > of Q6either&onscious nor 0nconscious Host ortem +urvivalR, and< of non survival. The last # *ve relate to ways ofattaining 6ibb-na .

6one of these views seem to *t the 0panishadsperfectly, but some appear to of these viewsapproximate to the 0panishadic view. Thus the semieternalists are given as those holding that1 Q%rahma,. . .he made us, and he is permanent, stable, eternal, notsub@ect to change, the same for ever and ever. %ut we

who were created by that %rahma, we areimpermanent, unstable, short lived, fated to fall away,and we have come to this world.R This description may*t some views expressed in the 0panishads where%rahman is spo en as a male person responsible forcreation. %ut it is diZcult to *nd any statement in the0panishads that corresponds exactly to the categoriesmentioned in the %rahma@-la.

There are other discourses speci*cally on the Vedicsystem as well as conversations with %rahmins whichinvolve their beliefs. Fe may consider two discoursesrepresentative of this ind of +utta. :ne is the Tevi@@a+utta contained in the ong Jiscourses of the %uddhaand the other is the &aP i sutta included in the iddle

ength Jiscourses.

In the Tevi@@a sutta (J6 I. "/) the %uddha dealsspeci*cally with the three Vedas. The preamble to the+utta states that two %rahmins, followers respectivelyof Ho aras-di and T-ru ha were disputing as towhose path (to union with %rahm-) 56ote ;7 was the


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correct path. They the decide to consult the %uddhaand one of the disputants V-se ha mentions several%rahmin schools ( !ddhariy-, Tittiriy-, &hando -,%avhari@-) 56ote


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The %uddha then points out that prayer to theVedic deities is as futile as as ing the further ban of ariver to come to the opposite side. The %uddhaconcludes1

DIn @ust the same way, V-se ha, do the%rahmans versed in the Three Vedas O omittingthe practice of those qualities which reallyma e a man a %rahman, and adopting thepractice of those qualities which really ma emen non %rahmans say thus1 QIndra we call

upon, +oma we call upon, Varu a we call upon,Ks-na we call upon, Ha@-pati we call upon,%rahm- we call upon, ahiddhi we call upon,

ama we call upon`R Verily, V-se ha, thatthose %rahmans versed in the Three Vedas,but omitting the practice of those qualitieswhich really ma e a man a %rahman, andadopting the practice of those qualities which

really ma e men non %rahmansOthat they, byreason of their invo ing and praying andhoping and praising, should, after death andwhen the body is dissolved, become unitedwith %rahm- verily such a condition of thingscan in no wise be`E

The %uddha then concludes his discourse by givingV-se ha the correct path to salvation, and V-se habecomes a follower of the %uddha.

The &haP i +utta ( a@@hima 6i -ya 6o. X#) is adiscourse given to a group of %rahmins headed by


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&haP i where the %uddha again refutes the Vedicclaims. There is disagreement amongst the brahminsabout the correct path to union with %rahm-. Theydecide to consult the %uddha. ost of conversation isbetween the %uddha and a young brahamin student,whom the %uddha addresses as %h-radv-@a. %h-radv-@aas s the %uddhaEs opinion about the brahamin view oftheir scriptures1 D:nly this is true, anything else iswrong.E. In his reply the %uddha demonstrates thateven though the %rahmins assert this none of them

now for certain if what their doctrines assert is true ornot. Their belief is based purely on blind faith, and the%uddha repeats the example of the *le of blind men.

The purpose of the discourse is twofold. Girstly to shedsmore light on the conditions set out in the 8-l-ma suttafor acceptance of views, and secondly to consider whatQfaithR (saddhā ) means in the %uddhaEs teaching. :urmain purpose here is to examine the vedic beliefs thatthe %uddha considers as an example of unacceptablebeliefs.

In the 0panishads we sometimes get sraddhā (faithin the teacher) praised as a virtue. %ut the 0panishadicconcept of sraddhā is di?erent to the %uddhist saddhā .In the brahminical usage sraddhā is more a in to blindfaith. In the %uddhist sense saddhā can only bedeveloped in a teacher if certain requisites are satis*ed.Girstly the teacher should be a person of moralrectitude. the V9masa a +utta the %uddha lays downcertain six moral requiements that the teacher shouldpass before faith is placed in him. 56ote >7 In the &aP isutta the teaching itself should satisfy certain tests iffaith is to be placed in the teacher propounding it


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however worthy he may be in terms of the tests posedin the V9asa a sutta.

The &aP i +utta restates the %uddhaEs fundamentaldisagreement with the Vedic 0panishadic theory1

QLow then, %h-radv-@a, the ancientbrahmin seers, the creators of the hymns, thecomposers of the hymns, whose ancienthymns that were formerly chanted, uttered,and compiled, the brahmins nowadays still

chant and repeat, repeating what was spo enand reciting what was recited O that is,! ha a, V-ma a, V-madeva, Vess-mitta,

amataggi, !ngirasa, %h-radv-@a, Vase ha,8assapa, and %hagu did even these ancientbrahmin seers say thus1 DFe now this, we seethis1 only this is true, anything else is wrongEWRO Q6o, aster 2otama.R,

Q+o, %h-radv-@a, it seems that among thebrahmins there is not even a single brahminwho says thus1 DI now this, I see this1 only thisis true, anything else is wrong.E!nd among thebrahmins there is not even a single teacher ora single teacherEs teacher bac to the seventhgeneration of teachers, who says thus1 DI nowthis, I see this1 only this is true, anything elseis wrong.E!nd the ancient brahmin seers, thecreators of the hymns, the composers of thehymns ... even these ancient brahmin seersdid not say thus1 DFe now this, we see this1only this is true, anything else is


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wrong.E+uppose there were a *le of blind meneach in touch with the next1 the *rst one doesnot see, the middle one does not see, and thelast one does not see. +o too, %h-radv-@a, inregard to their statement the brahmins seemto be li e a *le of blind men1 the *rst one doesnot see, the middle one does not see, and thelast one does not see. Fhat do you thin ,%h-radv-@a, that being so, does not the faith of the brahmins turn out to be groundlessWR

There are several other suttaEs which criticise theVedic theory along the lines of the two discoursesconsidered above.

+c, Burro9in/s *ro the Vedic theory<

It must not be thought that there were no aspectsof the Vedic 0panishadic theory that is found in%uddhism. %ut these generally relate to less importantdoctrines, or the doctrines even though they areconsidered basic to the Jhamma could be considerednot relevant to the issue of human salvation.

The *rst of these is the place given to supernaturalentities and planes of existence in the %uddhistscheme. The %uddha asserts that gods exist, eventhough the notion of a creator 2od (issaro or ah-%rahm-) is denied. There are suttas in which the%uddha discourses with devas. :ne entire +uttanta, the

ah-govinda sutta (Jigha 6i -ya 6o. "X) is given to a2andabba. This is a past life of the %uddha and it


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aZrms the existence of realms li e the Leaven of the Thirty Three gods which, as we saw, is a burrowing fromthe Vedas. It is also said to indicate a transition fromthe earlier gods of the three Vedas to the moresophisticated speculations of the %rahmanas and!ranya as. Jeva worlds are postulated in which theinhabitants have extra ordinarily long lifetimes.

%ut even more important than the devas is thedoctrine of sasāra and the associated notions of ammaand re birth. Fe saw that this doctrine originated with

-@_aval ya the well nown 0panishadic seer. %ut ofcourse there are di?erences in the 0panishadic and the%uddhist versions. -@_aval ya postulated the Vedic-taman, but %uddhism denies such an entity. This posesthe hoary question1 if there is no soul what then isrebornW The usual answer is that it is not the soul butthe armic energy contained in the +aP h-ras that atdeath activates a new life elsewhere. Fhatever the

validity of this argument in popular interpretation rebirth is seen as if the individual eeps on being rebornuntil 6ibb-na is reached. !s regards the arma whichdrives this process of sasāra there is a di?erencebetween the 0panishads and the %uddhaEs teaching. InVedic doctrine arma is the right performance of dutyas stipulated in the revealed scriptures ( ṛta ). The mostimportant of these is the observance of caste law. In%uddhism however arma is essentially the observanceof ethical precepts li e non illing.

!nother important di?erence between the0panishadic theory of Transmigration and the %uddhisttheory of re birth is that the 0panishads refer to a place


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of existence called the plane of the fathers (in additionto the plane of the devas). %uddhism nows not Qplaneof the fathersR, but on various deva realms, hellishplanes, and the human plane.

The %uddhist notion of 6irvana ( ni""āna ) has beencompared to %rahman. !s we have seen the latter forall practical purposes is identi*able with the god%rahm- while ni""āna is a state of being which the fullyliberated person reaches. If it can be assigned a genderit has to be neuter. The similarity is that both terms

cannot be de*ned in positive terms. The 0panishadicseers often said that %rahman is Qnot this, not thatR(neti neti ). In %uddhism too 6irvana is often describedas not being things that are readily perceptible. Thusthe fully liberated person, who has reached the state ofnibb-na is said neither to exist or not to exist. Thus hisexistence after is neither aZrmed not denied. Fhile thismay be compatible with one the logical categories of

ancient Indian thin ing it is not one that is accepted inmodern logical theory.

There are other brahmanical notions which the%uddha seems to have accepted. Thus the %uddha issaid to have mastered the meditation techniques of hismentors during the period of his search mainly !l-ra8-l-ma and 0dda a =-maputta. Fhile we cannotexactly state what theory these samanas subscribed itis most li ely one of the br-hmanical theories current atthe time. The importance given to breath even as apreliminary stage in %uddhist meditation may be anecho of the central position that breath (pr- a) was


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given in the 0panishadic system.

=. The Upanishads and Rationalis

!nother angle from which the 0panishads could beconsidered is that of rationalism and materialism. Fehave seen that %uddhism adopted a basically rationalapproach, but it still did tolerate certain elements ofVedic thin ing. In particular this included a belief in theexistence of dev-s, though not of a supreme creator2od. Fhile the term deva has many meanings,including being an exalted person li e a ing, it isgenerally thought to be supernatural beings living innon terrestrial realms. 'mpirical proof of such beingscannot be made. !lso %uddhism asserts the doctrine ofrebirth, which is similar to the reincarnation theoryadvanced by the 0panishadic seers. ! more throughcritique of the 0panishadic system would involve are@ection of these elements as well.

+trict rationalist and materialist views did exist atthe time when the 0panishads were composed. Theywere generally called doctrines of nihilism(n-sti av-d-). 56ote X7 The most prominent of thesewere attributed to a thin er of that age called &-rv- aof whom virtually nothing is nown 56ote /$7. Le is saidto have composed a wor called %rihaspati +Ctra, butthis has been lost. There are at least two sourc

knowledge of the self in the upanishads

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